“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: …a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance …”   Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

This year we have said farewell to three saints from the congregation through their deaths: Sadge Brooks, Bob Honeycutt and Jane Ninestein. A few other saints have been dealing with very difficult health issues. And a couple other couples dear to the congregation have
moved/will be moving: Pastor Gene & Marty Copenhaver and next week Martin & Harriet Schneider. It has been a little bit of a weepy first part of the year. But I am thankful for the time I got to spend with each of them, and for their contributions to the congregation over a period of years or decades and decades!

I am hopeful that in time, just as the rosebush I severely pruned and transplanted will yield beautiful flowers, so too we each can bloom wherever we are planted. And for those who have finished their race, we can say “Thank you God for giving them to us to know and to love while on their pilgrimage on earth.”

God’s peace & hope, Pastor Jon